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Modeltowners fall; Mustangs cruise in 4 sets

Gwinn junior setter Marissa Delmont digs the ball in the second set of a high school volleyball match at Gladstone on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

GLADSTONE — Gladstone used home-court advantage and waited out Gwinn for a comeback five-set high school volleyball victory on Thursday evening.

The Braves lost the first two sets before coming back for an 18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-12, 15-8 victory.

Gwinn (4-3) lost a bit of focus after the first two sets, according to head coach Toni Roberts.

“For us … it just came down to not communicating and missing too many passes,” she said. “Two things of which we have not struggled with all season.

“Sets 1 and 2 we played good volleyball; we set up plays and we were running in (our) system.

“After those sets, we started missing too many serve receive and defensive balls and had to play in transition more than we are used to. We couldn’t get anything going.

“I credit Gladstone’s strong servers for getting us out of (our) system and this is when they were able to capitalize and controls Sets 3, 4 and 5.”

She did credit Tianna Taylor for having a big night while playing a position she isn’t used to due to an injured player.

“Tianna Taylor had a big night for us; she stepped into a new position after we lost a player to a concussion and she played hard. As a sophomore, she really proved her varsity worth … and made several key plays for us both offensively and defensively.”

Taylor was second on the team with nine kills and had the best attack percentage of .227, adding seven digs, a block, a service ace and four set assists.

Brooke Mannor led the Gwinn attack with 16 kills and three aces while making nine digs. Teammate Marissa Delmont had a team-high 19 digs to go with six kills, 25 set assists and an ace.

Also, Larissa Wixtrom and Emily Curtice each had 15 digs and Audrey Morford 10, while Sydney St. Clair had six solo blocks and Hannah Noel four kills, five digs, two solo blocks and an ace.

The Modeltowners return to action with a West PAC home match against Hancock on Tuesday evening.

N. Dickinson 3, Superior Ctl. 0

At Felch, the host Nordics dominated down the stretch in a 25-20, 25-10, 25-12 victory.

“We’ve been very inconsistent, up and down,” ND coach Sandy Haustein said of the season. “One game we look really good and the next game is like we never touched a volleyball.”

A Samanatha Borvan kill snapped a 16-16 tie in the first set. Borvan added another kill in an 8-3 surge.

A Skye Ledzian kill and consecutive aces for a 24-19 lead put away the Cougars.

SC is back in action Tuesday at Big Bay de Noc.

Munising 3, Forest Park 1

At Crystal Falls, the Mustangs apparently had their best match of the season, beating the Trojans 24-26, 25-20, 25-11, 25-23.

“Tonight was the first time where it felt like it finally clicked for us,” Munising co-coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “We had six service errors in the first set, and maybe one or two the rest of the night. Our attacking pattern was similar.

“After that first set, we saw (our players) come together and play like the team we see in practice. It was exhilarating.”

Michaela Werner had a big night for the Mustangs, making 22 kills with just four errors and an attack percentage of .486. She also had three service aces, three digs and two blocks.

Teammate Daryn Johnson added 13 kills, 11 digs and three aces, while Autumn Sturgis had a team-high 17 digs and three aces and Emily Contreras 16 digs, 41 set assists, three kills and two aces.

Also for Munising, Taylor Downs had 12 digs, eight kills and four aces, while Megan Mason made eight digs, two aces and a kill.

The Mustangs return to action Tuesday night with a Skyline Central Conference match at Carney-Nadeau.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee with contributions from the Iron Mountain Daily News. Email Brownlee at sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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